


The Answers are Inside You

by earp_always



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, Dating, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Self-Discovery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-12
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:21:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23116150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/earp_always/pseuds/earp_always
Summary: Nicole Haught has had feelings for Waverly Earp for a long time but she know's that telling her will likely change their friendship and she doesn't feel like she can live without her.Waverly Earp has finally realised that she has feelings for Nicole Haught but doesn't want to tell Nicole just in case she ends up feeling like she's trying to use her to explore her sexuality.These two completely oblivious individuals must navigate their feelings, high school pressure and the challenges of being something other than heterosexual in the small town of Purgatory.
Relationships: Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught
Comments: 4
Kudos: 56





	1. Nicole

**Author's Note:**

> Hi Humans!  
> This is my first attempt at a story on Archive of Our Own and I hope you like it! Please leave comments and suggestions! It would mean the world to me to connect with some fellow Earpers and perhaps find out if you're enjoying the story.  
> Thanks,  
> -earp_always

Walking up onto the porch at the Earp Homestead, I felt my heart leap into my throat. I tapped the toes of my boots on the wooden flooring to rid them of snow and knocked twice. I hoped that Waverly would be the one to open the door. I didn’t understand what had happened earlier, but I just hoped that I wasn’t the reason for her tears. I never wanted to see her upset, let alone be the cause of it.

  
Earlier in the day, we’d been sitting in the coffee shop. It was after school and it’d become a bit of a tradition for us to meet there whenever one of us was feeling stressed, overwhelmed, sad or if we just needed some time with just the two of us. It gave us a proper chance to chat and laugh and forget about any worries. Waverly had texted me in the sixth period asking if we could meet at the Daily Bites Café in town after school. When I arrived there, Waverly was already sitting in our usual booth towards the back of the café. She looked gorgeous in a white crop top and blue jeans with an oversized khaki jacket thrown over the top to keep the cold out. I noticed the slight wrinkle between her eyebrows and the sparkle that was missing from her beautiful brown eyes. She seemed nervous and I made it my mission to have her giggling before we left. She put too much pressure on herself. She always tried to make sure that she got good grades in school and kept her family happy, but she never really chose to do things for the sake of making herself happy. I walked over and flashed her a smile and she smiled back, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

  
I sat down with her and we talked about how our days were. We ordered milkshakes, a strawberry one for me and a vanilla one for her and continued discussing what had happened at school today. She told me about how Stephanie Jones had been more obnoxious than usual at cheerleading practice today and about the upcoming speech that she had to write for history about Ancient Greece. It wasn’t like her. Usually, if something was bothering her as much as something so clearly was, she wouldn’t skip around the topic. She’d jump right into it and we’d chat until she felt better, then move on to other topics once I knew that she was okay, and she was feeling more like the bubbly Waverly that I’d grown used to. I’d also never seen her this nervous. She kept staring down at her milkshake like she was deep in thought every time there was a pause in the conversation and she’d chewed her bottom lip so much that it was beginning to turn into an angry pink colour. I didn’t want to push her though, and I knew that, with time, she’d tell me whatever it was that she needed to tell me.

  
After about an hour and a half sitting in the booth, she went quiet again. This time I didn’t attempt to fill the silence with conversation, wondering if that would prompt her to get whatever was bugging her off her chest. She looked down at her empty glass again and, after a few minutes, looked up at me with tears in her eyes. I couldn’t stand to see her like that, so clearly distressed with nothing that I could do to help her. I reached my hand across the table and placed it gently on top of hers.  
“I’m sorry,” she’d chocked out with a sob, then she stood, and hurried out of the café and onto the street. By the time I had collected my thoughts and walked out the door to find her, she was gone.

  
After I’d left the café and driven myself home, I’d felt confused. I arrived home to find that Mum wasn’t home yet, so I took myself to my room to try to work out what had just happened. I didn’t understand. Waverly was like a sun. She was always bright and warm and even if that disappeared for a moment it wasn’t long before the clouds parted, and the warmth returned. This time, it was different. She’d felt so guarded and it killed me not knowing how to help her.

  
I’ve known Waverly for 2 years now. We met when she was in grade 9 and I was in grade 10. I was new to the school, having just moved into Purgatory, and she saw me in the playground looking lost, smiled her big warm smile and helped me find the classroom that I was looking for. In the first few weeks of being at the school, I wasn’t brave enough to approach her. She was pretty and smart and popular, and I was just the lanky new kid with red hair, but every time she saw me, she made sure to come up to me and see how I was doing and how I was settling into the area. She even asked me if I wanted to try out for the junior cheerleading team, but I politely declined and told her that basketball was more my thing. Once she’d heard that, she enthusiastically suggested that I try out for the team and even came to watch my try out. I don’t know that it helped me much, though, because I kept getting distracted looking at her sitting by the side of the court. I’m not sure how, but I managed to make it onto the team and, even when the cheerleaders didn’t have to be present, she never missed one of my games.

  
By the time I was in grade 11 we had become as thick as thieves. If someone said the name Nicole Haught, usually Waverly Earp would follow shortly afterward. It felt like it was us against the world and it was honestly the first time that I could properly say that I felt like I had a best friend. That year was also the year that I realised that I felt more. I realised why I got butterflies every time I saw Waverly cheerleading at one of my games. I realised why I’d do anything for her and had gotten in trouble multiple times because I’d snuck out of the house to go and see her when her then-boyfriend, Champ, had left her in tears. I also worked out why, when we first met, I wasn’t brave enough to talk to her, but I still admired her from afar. It was because I had feelings for Waverly Earp. Feelings that, to this day, still haven’t gone away. It made so much sense. I remember feeling so upset when Waverly had told me that she had started dating football star, Champ Hardy. I could barely fight back the tears enough to congratulate her. I thought I must have been jealous that she managed to get a boyfriend before I did, but no, I was jealous that Champ was dating the one person that I adored most in the world. After I came to this realisation, I also realised that I had never had feelings for a male. Waverly was the first person that I came out as gay to. I was so scared that I was going to scare her away and that she’d disappear from my life, but she just wrapped me in a warm hug and asked me who my celebrity crush really was. We’d been through so much in our time as friends and now I’m in grade 12 and she’s in grade 11.

  
After I knocked on the door again, I stood in front of the door, wracking my brains trying to work out what I may have done to upset her, I heard light footsteps approaching the door. I knew it was her, her sister Wynonna’s footsteps were louder, and her father Ward’s were spaced further apart due to his longer legs. The door finally swung open and there she stood, eyes puffy and red with a large, grey blanket draped around her shoulders. She looked so small and vulnerable.

  
“Nicole,” she said with a surprised, croaky voice. “What are you doing here?”


	2. Waverly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Humans!  
> I’m so shocked about how many people have read the first chapter! Thank you so much! I hope you like the second one. Let me know in the comments if you do!  
> Thanks!  
>  -earp_always

This was it. This was the day that I was finally going to tell Nicole how I really felt about her. It’d been a long time coming, honestly. I’d only been able to deny my feelings for her for so long until I realised; what was the point? I loved the way that being in her arms felt like coming home after a long day. I loved the way that her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree when she was talking about something that she was excited about. I loved how it didn’t matter how many times I’d seen her in a day, every time she walked into a room, I felt fireworks in my stomach. I loved Nicole.

I wouldn’t tell her that today, that would probably scare her away, but I wanted her to know that I  feel more towards her than I’ve ever felt for anyone. Even Champ, who I’d actually had a relationship with, had never managed to evoke the same reaction s as Nicole did.  So, in a moment of courage, while sitting in my sixth period Mathematics class, I pulled out my phone and asked her to meet me in our booth at the Daily Bites Café after school. That would be my chance. I would tell her then.

When school finished, and I was walking to my locker to collect my things before I walked to the café, doubt started to cloud my mind. What if telling her ruined our friendship?  I can’t imagine  having to spend even a day without talking to her, I wouldn’t be able to cope i f that happened. I don’t think she’d react badly. Even if she doesn’t feel the same way towards me, I think she’d be okay with just having a conversation about it and working through it together. She’s just that amazing.

As I walked through the doors of the café, what I was planning to do hit m e like a slap in the face. My throat  felt like it was closing up and I felt like I hadn’t drunk water in weeks. I didn’t think I could go through with it. I sat in our normal booth towards the back of the café and waited for her to arrive. When she sat down, I couldn’t bring myself to broach the subject. I  struggled to even make eye contact, which was completely foreign to me. Usually her  light brown eyes brought me comfort in even the most awkward or tense scenarios. After stumbling through some very generic conversation and finishing our milkshakes, there was a pause. I decided that it was now or never. I looked up at Nicole, more scared than I have ever been in my entire life. She reached her hand across the table and placed it on mine and gave me a small smile. I realised how unfair I was being. I’d read into our relationship too far. She was just a kind,  caring, gentle person and I’d been lucky enough to be her friend and stupid enough to catch feelings for her.

“I’m sorry,” I chocked, and rushed out of the café, leaving Nicole , the one person I cared the most about in this world, and my chance to finally come clean inside the booth.

As I stepped out onto the street, I knew that it would only be a matter of seconds until Nicole would follow me out side and I wasn’t brave enough to talk to her now, so I ducked into the  op shop next door and tried to make myself look less flustered. I walked a little further into the shop and grabbed my phone out to text my sister, Wynonna, and ask if she could pick me up. She  responded immediately that she’d meet me outside the café in 10 minutes.

When Wynonna arrived, I climbed into her truck and  tucked my knees into my chest. I wanted to cry or scream or something. I felt like the frustration of not taking my chance to finally talk to Nicole was building up in my chest and  I was going to explode if I didn’t let it out soon.

“Hey,  babygirl . How’s  Taterhaught ?” Wynonna asked, too cheerful for me to deal with at that moment.

“Fine.” I snapped back. I immediately felt horrible. Wynonna was just asking a question. She didn’t deserve to be on the receiving end of my  snappiness. “I’m sorry Wy. I’m just… not in a good place at the moment. I don’t  wan na talk about it.”

The rest of the ride home consisted of silence, staring out the window and  desperately trying to hold my tears in. I could feel Wynonna’s gaze on me every few minutes. It was  like she thought that if she looked at me enough, she’d be able to read whatever was going on inside my head. It honestly wouldn’t surprise me. Next to Nicole, Wynonna knew me better than anyone.

When we arrived home , I quickly thanked Wy for driving me home and hurried up the stairs to my bedroom.  That only served to mak e things worse. My room had many photos of Nicole and I on our adventures and it just reminded me why I felt the way I felt for her and why I shouldn’t. Every moment with her was priceless. She always managed to make me feel like the most important person in the world an d  I never felt like I had to alter the way I acted around her. I could be my authentic self and she never seemed annoyed. She was the complete opposite to Champ in that way. He never liked listening to me talk about things that make me happy. The conversation would always find a way to be about him again. Even Wynonna sometimes got sick of hearing about history and languages every once in a while.  Sometimes, if I noticed I’d been rambling around Nicole, I’d trail off and apologise for talking incessantly. She’d always tell me that it was nonsense and ask a question to get me talking again. I always felt appreciated.  But that’s just what best friends do, and I was stupid for reading into that, and thinking that I’d ever have a chance with her.

After I spent a while laying on my bed, thinking about Nicole and crying intermittently, I heard a knock on the door. I knew that, by this time of the evening, my father would be at the bar and I’d heard Wynonna leave earlier, probably to go meet up with Doc. I dragged myself out of bed and wrapped my blanket around my shoulders. As I made my way down the stairs, I heard the person knock again.  I finally opened the door to reveal Nicole, looking  worried and confused.

“Nicole,” I said, hoping that she couldn’t tell that I had been crying  but knowing that she would all the same.  I could hear it in my  voice, and I knew that my eyes would be puffy and red. “What are you doing here?”


End file.
